Army beat an improving Temple team badly this past Thursday, posting a final score of 42-14. Amazingly, despite the fact that the Black Knights had basically crushed the Owls by game’s end, arguably the best thing about this particular win comes in the myriad ways it leaves for Army to continue to improve.
Yes, Army dominated this game both on the scoreboard and in the trenches. Even so, we saw periods in which both the offense and the defense made mistakes, gave up potentially game-changing plays, and basically played anything but their best football. None of that made any real difference, but it leaves significant upside for a team that already looks like it might be one of the American Conference’s best.
This game started about as well as it could possibly start. The Black Knights defense forced a punt, and then the offense scored a quick touchdown off a simple Midline Triple-Option Pitch that SB Noah Short took 61 yards for a touchdown. Army’s defense then forced another punt, and their offense again drove right down the field for another score.
Army’s defense forced yet another punt, and that’s when it looked like maybe the game might turn. Temple’s offense got a read on the option, forcing a fumble and a few negative plays, leading to 3rd and 33 from the Army 15 yard line. The Black Knights punted, giving Temple excellent field position. But the defense bailed the offense out, forcing no less than two punts in the last 1:40 of the half as both teams tried unsuccessfully to get something going through the air.
The second half saw Army’s offense transition from an option attack to a straightforward power rushing attack, allowing their offensive line to take it straight to Temple’s defense down in the trenches. Army scored on drives of seven and then six plays, keyed both times by long power runs, first from QB Bryson Daily then from RB Kanye Udoh.
Kanye Udoh enjoyed his homecoming on Thursday night at the Linc with 128 rushing yards and this tough run for 6 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/C3ZFhaPx50
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 28, 2024
But with subs coming in on Army’s defense, Temple again threatened to make a game of it. They scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives, both times on long passing plays. The first came off a nicely executed pass to the end zone, the second from an all-out blitz that left busted coverage over the middle of the field.
At this point, both Army’s offense and their defense got it back together. The offense ripped off back-to-back quick scoring drives, the second coming from the second string, while the defense registered multiple sacks plus an interception. In the end, the game was really never in doubt despite a handful of mistakes on both sides of the ball. As much as anything, this fact shows how much this team has improved since last season.
Army finished with a whopping 489 yards of total offense, 417 rushing and 72 passing. They put up 23 first downs, 5 rushing touchdowns, and a gorgeous passing touchdown from backup QB Dewayne Coleman to WR Cam Schurr. QB Bryson Daily finished with 152 yards rushing and 3 rushing touchdowns on 24 carries. FB Kanye Udoh took 14 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown. FB Jake Rendina carried 6 times for 27 yards and had an incredible day lead-blocking for Daily. In total, the offense did pretty much whatever it wanted, save during that one stretch at the end of the second quarter.
We haven’t maybe been as high on this year’s defense as we should have been at As For Football, but friends, the secret is out. This defense registered 7 sacks and an interception this week; they held Temple to a net -5 yards rushing on 22 carries; and they forced 6 Temple punts. This against an offense that has looked markedly better over the last two weeks since going to new starting QB Evan Simon. Simon and his offense made some plays, but Temple’s quarterback was also under duress throughout the game. By its end, he looked both bruised and like a man who was seeing ghosts.
All in all, this was a great performance on a short week, and it set up a long week of preparation for the road trip to Tulsa next weekend. That’s all good.
Looking Forward
This game occurred in primetime on national television. Everybody and their brother saw it, it was all over social media, and now the world knows that this year’s Army team is FOR REAL. That’s good for recruiting and for the overall stature of the program, but it also means that these Black Knights won’t be sneaking up on anybody at all for the rest of the season. They face a Tulsa team this week that ought to be, at a minimum, much better than the other teams they’ve faced to date this year. We’ll see what Tulsa looks like tonight against North Texas, but they’ve already beaten a solid Louisiana Tech team in overtime this past Saturday.
What can you do?
Win No. 4 ✅ with more opportunities ahead. pic.twitter.com/BjnP2BQW9E
— Army Football (@ArmyWP_Football) September 27, 2024
At a certain point, Army’s starters are going to have to play for four full quarters in order to get a win. In fact, we’re liable to see that on the road this very week. Tulsa’s rushing defense has looked at least solid so far throughout this season, so no one should expect an easy game of it.
And then, too, at a meta-level the Black Knights can’t afford to let up at all because Navy is for damn sure not going to let up, especially now that they’ve beaten in-conference rival Memphis to start their season. This is just not the year in which this Army team can afford to give an inch. The Black Knights will need to play their best football this week and every week in order to hold even overall with the Mids.
At a certain level, it already feels like the Army-Navy competition has started just to see who can come into America’s Game with the most to play for. That might be the long game, but it will require playing good football every single week.
On that note…
Go Army! Beat Tulsa!!!
Cover image via ArmyWP_Football.
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